Despite some only starting out in the industry, while others have carved a distinct path, one thing all these people have in common is raw talent. These are the movers and shakers. These are your INDE.Awards 2018 Prodigy and Luminary nominations.

These candidates have been handpicked by the Indesign Media editorial team, but the ultimate winner will be up to you. We’ve scoured the Asia Pacific region and believe these are the people to keep an eye on.

So who are they?

These stalwart figures should need no introduction. They have all worked tirelessly in the A+D industry, perfecting their art, honing their skills and creating a body of work with meaning.

THE LUMINARY

Khai LiewAustralia

As a designer of exquisitely crafted furniture, Khai Liew is passionate about materials and the handmade. Drawing on his own cultural heritage and his expert knowledge of Australian decorative arts and colonial histories, Liew occupies a unique place in contemporary furniture design. His decades-long championing of Australian colonial furniture as a specialist conservator, consultant and valuer have seen Liew actively promote this important component of Australian material culture, curating many significant private collections, with public collections in state and national art institutions showcasing numerous definitive examples of Australian pioneer vernacular provided and conserved by Liew. His designs have been exhibited at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London’s Design Museum and La Triennale di Milano. His work is represented in the permanent collections of the National Gallery of Australia, Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum, the Art Gallery of South Australia, and the Art Gallery of Western Australia.

Ma YansongMAD ArchitectsChina

Ma Yangsong is the founder and principal of MAD Architects, a practice that has continued to gain acclaim. Ma is Beijing-born and was the first Chinese architect to win an international landmark-building project – the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art in 2014. In recent years, many of his designs have been following the concept of the ‘Shanshui City’, which is his vision to create a new balance between the city, the environment and society through architecture. Parallel to his design practice, he has also been exploring the cultural values of cities and architecture through domestic and international solo exhibitions, publications and artworks. Fast Company named him one of the ‘10 Most Creative People in Architecture in 2009’ and one of the ‘100 Most Creative People in Business in 2014.’ In 2010 Ma became the first architect from China to receive a RIBA fellowship. In 2014 he was awarded ‘Young Global Leaders’ status by the World Economic Forum.

Mia Feasey
Siren Design GroupAustralia and Singapore

Mia Feasey is the founder, CEO and creative driving force behind interior design consultancy Siren Design. With clients spanning the Asia Pacific region, Siren has head offices in Sydney, Melbourne and Singapore. Siren has been redefining the interior architecture landscape for the past thirteen years and is considered the ‘game changer’ within the design industry. Siren’s continued success, working across all sectors, includes hospitality, retail, workplace and residential development. Key global clients such as Facebook, Google, Uber, LinkedIn and Twitter have contributed to Siren being awarded the Herman Miller ‘Best in Tech’ Award 2016 (Liveable Office Awards for the Asia Pacific region). More recently the Australian-owned Atlassian recently took out the ‘Gold’ Sydney Design Award, 2017. For personal accolades, Feasey received the 2010 NAWIC Businesswoman Award and Perspective Global 40 under 40 Design Star of the Future, 2012.

Vo Trong Nghia
Vo Trong Nghia ArchitectsVietnam

Vo Trong Nghia started his firm Vo Trong Nghia Architects in his homeland Vietnam in 2006 after spending ten years studying and working in Japan. The practice’s early projects were characterised by bamboo structures, the Wind and Water Café being the first of these. The design approach, combined with the bamboo treatment and construction brought him global awards and recognition. Several years later, Vo started working on green projects that utilise not only landscaped plants but also green facades and roofs, which work as a bio-skin for buildings. His aim is to rehabilitate the Vietnamese urban condition with greenery in order to reconnect humans with nature. His ‘House For Trees’ series continues to develop with this aim. Vo has received international prizes and honours including the AR House award, ARCASIA gold medal, and ‘Building of the Year’, FuturArc Green Leadership Award. The World Economic Forum also selected him as a ‘Young Global Leader’ in 2014.

THE PRODIGY

Briar Hickling and Alex MokLinehouseChina

Linehouse is an award-winning architecture and interior design practice established in 2013 by Briar Hickling (from New Zealand) and Alex Mok (Chinese-Swedish). Through the studio’s design process, each project has a strong narrative and an element of whimsy and voyeurism, creating a unique spatial experience. The studio works on projects of varying scales and typologies that allow explorations of both the poetic idea and the pragmatic solution. Projects are approached in a holistic manner combining different disciplines: architecture, interiors, product design and graphic design; and draw on the founders’ experiences to create new ideas and outputs emphasising qualities of construction, detail, materials and light. Linehouse operates as a platform for the collaboration of likeminded individuals who investigate the rituals of inhabitation and how these daily moments can be celebrated through design, transforming the mundane into performative acts. Photo by Ambrous Young.

Other Architects seek out ‘other’ approaches that challenge conventional wisdom, popular opinion and architectural trends. The Sydney-based practice undertakes diverse project types at a range of scales. Current projects include a small country house, an exhibition in a car park, a boutique apartment building and a vast metropolitan cemetery. The practice’s work has been exhibited at the inaugural Chicago Architecture Biennial and the NGV Triennial and has featured in numerous international publications. Other Architects Directors Grace Mortlock and David Neustein are currently artists-in-residence at Sydney’s Carriageworks. They have been invited speakers at the Venice Architecture Biennale, MIT Media Lab and the ‘New Cities, Future Ruins’ convening in Dallas, Texas. Neustein is The Monthly’s resident architectural critic and an Associate of the UTS School of Architecture, where both Directors regularly teach. Otherothers is a parallel design organisation that undertakes research, curation, competitions, events, exhibitions, graphics and communication.

Nick Harding
HaAustralia

Architect Nick Harding is the founder and Principal of Ha, a studio he founded in 2012. Harding’s focus for the practice has been undertaking people-focused design projects of varying scales and typologies, all with an emphasis on sustainable design. As a practice, Ha believes in designing harmoniously between interior and exterior, fundamentally taking an ‘inside out’ approach. As such, Harding has developed a certain strength in interior design. In addition to his project work, he is currently developing a research base of (truly) mixed-use developments, with the intention of establishing future models for Australian cities. Harding graduated from the University of South Australia in 2003. He worked with John Wardle Architects (JWA) in 2004, focusing primarily on educational and residential projects. In his time at JWA, Harding worked on multiple award-winning projects, including UniSA’s chancellory building, The Hawke Centre, which also houses the Samstag Musuem of Contemporary Art.

Olivia Lee
OLIVIA LEESingapore

Olivia Lee is the Principal Designer at an eponymous design studio grounded by an industrial design approach. The practice pivots from product to spatial design, research insights to ideation, with the goal of creating unique experiences. Lee focuses on uncovering new rituals and behaviours, navigating the tension between tradition and the future, and bringing brands into unexplored territories through design and narrative. Lee has produced work for international partners such as Hermès, The Balvenie, Mann+Hummel, Samsung, Mathmos, Bank of Singapore, Economic Development Board of Singapore and the British Council. Her work has been exhibited in Milan, Berlin, Paris, Tokyo and London, and published widely. In parallel with her professional practice, Lee lectures at the National University of Singapore. A graduate of Central Saint Martins, Olivia Lee combines her experiences in London with her Singaporean roots to establish a culturally nuanced design practice in the heart of South East Asia.

Voting will open soon for your 2018 INDE Luminary and Prodigy Awards. Stay tuned for more! And in the meantime, make sure to enter the INDE Awards by 9 February 2018!

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